Tony, (toady?)
I don't think that the handshake thing is an adaptation from wanting to touch. It originally started out because your right hand was where you held your sword, and your left hand your shield, and if you wanted to greet someone peacefully, you would sheath your sword and greet them. Incidently, right/lefthandedness is one of the reasons why we started to drive on the right side of the road. The problem was that people would be driving on the left, going on carriage or oxencart or whatever, and when they would go to whip the animals, it was with their right hand, which is difficult to do when there is someone quite close to you on the road, coming towards you on your right...
Anyways... case in point against touching being a built in greeting: bowing. Most asian cultures do it, and I'm sure there are other countries that have non-contactive greetings...
08-29-2001, 12:09 PM
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